Get a life

I once worked with a group of young men who were into video-gaming. They would spend a good portion of their shifts talking about the latest games, discussing strategies and plays, or talking smack to each other in regards to the games. While most of the games they played weren’t things I was interested in, I listened to them while I worked my own job. Sometimes the constant chatter about games got old, but the camaraderie between the young men was something I still marvel at today.

Another co-worker, however, took exception to their chatter. She didn’t understand the fascination with video games, nor did she ever seem to want to. She often would scoff when she worked a shift with us. “Get a life!” she’d complain. Yet, she also would sit for hours and watch television after she was finished working, and more often than not would be engulfed in some sort of sports program. I always wondered why sitting for hours watching football or other programming was considered “getting a life” but playing video games was not.

That lead me to thinking….

What exactly is “a life” and who decides what that looks like?

When one tells someone else to get a life, what life are they wanting that person to have?

I have always taken the phrase “get a life” as insulting or as a taunt. It’s usually said in frustration by someone who doesn’t want to try to understand that not everyone likes the same things as they do. It’s akin in my mind to the phrase “why can’t you be normal?” that I often heard growing up.

I am very much a solitary introverted homebody when I am not at work. I have been one my entire life. My ideal evening consists of either reading and writing, browsing social media, or working on one of my crafts, spending time unwinding after a busy day as I refill the battery that has been drained by too much socialization. The other half is very much the same way. As we have grown older, we have discovered that we enjoy this quiet time. I especially cherish it since I am always trying to shine brightly at my full time job. I have a life, I answer back this days proudly.

I am well aware that my kind of “life” irks others and would be seen as boring. But that’s perfectly fine. We are not all wired the same. We should not all be expected to act the same or have the same lives. As we age and our tastes change, so do the kinds of lives we are living. We all, in fact, have fulfilling lives.

Going back to the video-game vs. watching television scenario. The young men, obviously, had something to socialize about. They likely chatted online while gaming, working as a group to achieve a goal. They were productive and actively engaging their brains while thinking critically and problem solving. Isn’t that an objective of this so-called “life”? So they achieved the objective.

Keep in mind that what may feel like a productive and fulfilling life to one person may be something torturous for someone else. Some people need the socialization face-to-face meetings may give them whereas others do much better chatting via text or message in an online game or on social media. Some unwind with binge-watching their current favorite shows or catching a football game on television, while others enjoy trying to beat their high score in a solitary game or a tough mini-boss with friends online. All of those are fulfilling things to enjoy and do. They are all part of the magic of the stories we each write of our lives.

So dear readers, no matter what anyone tells you, your activities and hobbies and ways you fill your own free time are worth it. You have a perfectly fine life, be it one filled with a social calendar and activities galore or evenings of television shows and movies to binge watch, or even a video game you’ve master countless times. Enjoy the life you have, and don’t let anyone rain on your parade.

You have a life. You don’t need to get one.

Stay magical.

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This is post 11 of 13 for the Name Your Number Writing Challenge I am partaking in this month. Want to know more? Just click the hyperlink!

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